Episode Overview

Podcast: TBTL: Too Beautiful To Live
Episode: #4620 “I Was Saying Boo”
Release Date: December 16, 2025
Hosts: Luke Burbank & Andrew Walsh

This lively episode showcases Luke and Andrew in classic form, blending playful banter, nostalgia-fueled pop culture dissection, and very relatable talk about everyday absurdities. The core of the show orbits around revisiting beloved 80s movies (mostly Rob Reiner’s The Princess Bride and This Is Spinal Tap), pop-culture memories tied to childhood, and the quirks of aging and technology—plus a few digressions into service industry interactions, home improvement, and Seattle Mariners baseball disappointments. The tone is goofy, self-deprecating, and warmly honest.

Main Discussion Points & Insights

1. Movie Nostalgia: Princess Bride & This Is Spinal Tap

• Luke’s Rob Reiner Double Feature
  • Luke watched The Princess Bride and This Is Spinal Tap "to honor Rob Reiner," immediately becoming swept up in their charm despite originally treating it as "homework" for the pod.
  • Both hosts discuss their continued discovery of new details with every rewatch, lauding Reiner’s storytelling efficiency and the films’ lasting impact.

"Within 30 seconds [of Princess Bride] I was fully locked in... I have seen that movie so many times and I was absolutely and totally entertained... It might even be the best movie ever made in history, I don't know."
—Luke (16:21, 24:47)

• Princess Bride: Narrative Economy & Ageless Charm

  • Admiration for how quickly character dynamics, stakes, and relationships are established.
  • The set design and aesthetic choices are praised as "almost like a stage play," intentionally stylized rather than striving for realism.
  • Luke notes new observations: “Miracle Max has adult braces” (19:51), the Spinal Tap director’s hat is seen in Fred Savage’s room (23:31).

• Quotes & Cultural Penetration

  • The endless quotability—marriage speech, Miracle Max, "inconceivable!", the booing crone—is relished.
  • Andrew notes Princess Bride is often the answer for "if you could make the world watch one movie" on their listener surveys.

“There are at least 10 scenes that are amongst the top 100 iconic scenes in movie history.”
—Luke (21:25)

• On Spinal Tap and Mockumentaries
  • Luke marvels that Spinal Tap was Reiner’s first major film and possibly pioneered the mockumentary genre (27:22).
  • Andrew draws a British lineage to the format (mentioning Eric Idle's The Rutles), but acknowledges Spinal Tap as an American milestone.
  • Both appreciate the musicality (“songs are pretty catchy” —31:13).

2. Childhood Movie Anxieties & The VHS Era

• Andrew and Luke reminisce about "scary" and “forbidden” films of their youth, especially those encountered only as VHS covers at the video store.
• Examples: The Last Starfighter, Cloak and Dagger, Porky’s (8:16, 10:24).
  • Andrew fondly recalls Cloak and Dagger as “dark AF” for a kids’ movie, complete with weird scares (9:18).

3. Streaming Tiles, Personalization, and Media Fetishization

• Andrew raises the oddity of personalized streaming tiles (11:06), revealing HBO had shown him a Get Out tile featuring secondary white characters—presumably an algorithmic assumption based on his demographics.
• Hosts discuss the psychology and implications of these choices; they rib Netflix’s “diversity,” joking, “Netflix so white” (12:36).

"On the tile was Kathryn Keener and her husband... and I took a photo... I am pretty sure I am getting this tile because I am a white."
—Andrew (12:09)

4. Service Industry Schemes & Customer Feedback

• The episode opens with a joke about getting freebies by leaving bad Yelp reviews, which morphs into a rich tangent about audience manipulation and service recovery (0:05, 53:04).
• Later, Luke describes leaving a scathing review of a thermostat, prompting “white glove” customer service (“just write very lousy reviews and then they will come to you” — 53:10).

“I have never—it's some sort of white glove service... This is not a huge company, and also they were horrified at my one star review.”
—Luke (52:45)

5. Everyday Absurdities: Missed Obligations, Roombas, and Home Heating

• Luke’s “No Show” Anxiety
  • Luke describes accidentally getting looped into a public radio listening session in Portland without ever actually agreeing to attend (39:07–46:21).
  • Consumed with guilt but unable to face the “no call, no show,” he ponders which NPR “Luke” could substitute for him.

"Now if I chime in and go, hey, I'm sorry, I don't know how I got on this list, but I'm not coming tomorrow... that felt worse than just no call, no show."
—Luke (43:11)

• Thermostat Woes & Customer Service Chronicles (47:05)

  • Luke shares another home technology grievance, this time with a $100 thermostat: poor interface, charging issues, and failure to work as promised.
  • Andrew draws parallels to smart home devices.
  • After a forthright review, Luke receives immediate, personal support—wondering if angry reviews are now the secret to good service.

• Roomba Company Bankruptcy

  • Brief mention of the Roomba company’s bankruptcy and what it means for Luke’s faithful “Randy the Roomba” (2:08).

6. Seattle Mariners and Listener Community

• Mariners comings and goings are nervously dissected, with special lamentation for the departure of Jorge Polanco (36:22). Andrew and Luke agree: “He kind of had a magical season.”
• Donor thanks segment (31:51) provides comic callbacks and local color, including Rick Steves almost (but not quite) joining their post-show beer.

7. Listener Voicemail: Ride Share, Rural Wisconsin, and Sex Work

• Andrew plays a voicemail from a listener in Tacoma who, after arranging an Uber in Sequim, received a follow-up offer for “kinky stuff on the side”—leading both hosts to ruminate on whether to feel flattered, awkward, or both (63:32).
• Andrew and Luke recount their own rural ride-share misadventures in Wisconsin, involving sleep-deprived drivers, nonfunctional "get you home safe" numbers, and “pajama pants energy” drivers (65:34–69:47).

Notable Quotes & Memorable Moments (with Timestamps)

On The Princess Bride and Its Enduring Magic

• “Within 30 seconds, I was fully locked in on the film... It might even be the best movie ever made in history, I don't know.” —Luke (16:21, 24:47)

• “There are at least 10 scenes that are amongst the top 100 iconic scenes in movie history.” —Luke (21:25)

• “Miracle Max has braces... I have never noticed he has adult braces!” —Luke (19:51)

• “The ancient Booer was played by Marjorie Mason, who was born in 1913... She looks good in that movie for being born in 1913.” —Luke (25:49)

Algorithmic Oddities

• “On the tile was Kathryn Keener and her husband, the guy from the West—Bradley Whitford, and I took a photo... I am pretty sure I am getting this tile because I am a white.” —Andrew (12:09)

On Reluctant Obligations

• "Now if I chime in and go, hey, I'm sorry, I don't know how I got on this list, but I'm not coming tomorrow... that felt worse than just no call, no show." —Luke (43:11)

Service Feedback and Customer Support

• “I've never—it's some sort of white glove service. I think it has to do with the fact that this is not a huge company, and also that they were horrified at my one star review.” —Luke (52:45)

• “Just write very lousy reviews of these companies and then they will come to you.” —Luke (53:10)

Ride Share & Rural Bar Stories

• "She was like, you know, yeah, just call me, I'll come get you. You know, and I never sleep and whatever. And then of course, we're ready to leave the bar... No one's answering. She's asleep." —Luke (68:17)

• “Was she wearing pajama pants or am I making that part up?... I just sort of feel like it definitely had pajama pants energy.” —Andrew (68:53)

Podcast Humor in a Nutshell

• “Netflix so white.” —Andrew (12:36)

Timestamps for Key Segments

• [01:45] — Rob Reiner double feature: Princess Bride and Spinal Tap
• [05:02] — Early childhood impact of movies (Last Starfighter, Cloak and Dagger)
• [11:04] — Personalized streaming tiles and algorithm oddities
• [16:21, 24:47] — In-depth Princess Bride analysis and accolades
• [27:22] — Impact and originality of Spinal Tap in American comedy
• [31:51] — Donor thanks & Rick Steves beer anecdote
• [36:22] — Mariners trades and fan lamentations
• [39:07–46:21] — Luke’s “no call, no show” at Portland public radio
• [47:05] — Thermostat review, customer service saga
• [53:04] — Smart companies, bad reviews, and customer service response
• [63:32] — Listener voicemail: rural Uber, disconcerting side hustle pitch
• [65:34–69:47] — Wisconsin ride share misadventures
• [70:13] — Sign-off

Tone & Style

The classic TBTL tone shines: loose, self-mocking, affectionately nerdy, and deeply relatable. Listeners can jump in anywhere and feel the conversation is both about them and for them—whether they're here for the movie deep-dives, the offbeat tech complaints, or comfort in knowing they're not alone in social awkwardness and nostalgia.

Summary for New Listeners

This episode is quintessential TBTL: warm, wandering, and packed with pop cultural substance. The hosts time-travel through the peaks of formative movies, muse over the weirdness of growing up and growing older, and laugh about the absurdities of adult life—from feeling guilty for skipping meetings to outsmarting heater thermostats with bad online reviews. Whether you’re a fan of 80s cinema, customer service drama, or just bonding over shared neuroticism, this one’s for you.

Key quote:

“Just write very lousy reviews and then they will come to you.”
—Luke Burbank (53:10)